My jaw worked for a full minute. “This is a joke, right? You’re joking.”
“Why would I joke about having sex with my hot-ass wife?”
Because not five hours ago you were telling Rhodes and Alex that you would never trust your hot-ass wife!
“Because you just got done hearing me say that I threw up. I even have some on my pants.”
“My plan involves ditching the pants, so this works out just fine for me.”
I gaped at him, then my eyes narrowed. “Hold on, is this a trick? Are you planning to lure me to the east wing where Alex is waiting in the shadows with a pee-filled balloon?”
“A what?” He laughed. “You’re watching too much TV before bed, babe. That’s what’s making you nauseous.”
“I—” My stomach heaved, doubling me over and pitching me sideways against the kitchen counter.I wish it were jumbled comedy reruns haunting my dreams. At least those aren’t real.
“All right.” Hands encircled my back and knees. “Guess I’m initiating this time.”
“Wha— Micah!”
He scooped me up, squishing me against his hard, tattooed chest, and carried me away.
I struggled weakly in his hold. If there was ever a time in my life when I was not in the romantic mood, it’d definitely be when I was covered in my own vomit!
“Micah, please,” I rasped as he carried me up the stairs and down the same hallway where I listened to them count the days until they’d be rid of me. “I don’t think this is a good idea—”
He kicked the door open, carrying me over the threshold.
“I can’t keep up with this hot-and-cold thing you’re doing,” I said. He rested me on a bed I could barely see in the dark. “You might think it’s sexy, but it very much isn’t.”
“Then, I’ll stick with one.” His hands slid out from under me, then he did too—moving away in the dark. “Just hot.”
Before I could reply, the lights flicked on—flooding every corner of the plain guest room.
I say plain guest room because that’s exactly what it was when I was growing up—with nothing to say for itself except for a calming cream-and-blue color palette, four-poster bed, two dressers big and small, and an armchair and end table by the window. I didn’t know how long Micah had been living in this room, but however long that time was, he didn’t spend it redecorating.
The only new addition was the mini-fridge he was currently standing over.
“Even if you don’t take me up on my deal, I’ll take you up on yours.” Micah took a water bottle out of the fridge, and then crossed to the bathroom. His voice floated through the open door. “The truce. A ceasefire. For as long as you’re playing the part of doting, loving wife, I’ll play the role of attentive, loving husband.”
I saw his smirk first, then I drifted down to the water bottle in one hand, and the spit cup in the other.
“I won’t break... until you do.” He handed me both. “Here. Rinse out your mouth, and then drink. Finish half that bottle, then the medicine.”
“You won’t break until I do?” I repeated slowly even as I complied with his order. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s just a little incentive for you to keep up the act—and we both know it’s an act—longer than you were planning to. Nari loves you like this.” Heaccepted the gross spit cup from me, setting it down on the end table and then tapping the water bottle to remind me to drink. “For her sake, I want you to keep the real Sue down for as long as you can.”
Silence fell while I drank. “And how is the deal you’re offering me any different from the deal you think I’m offering you?”
“Aww, yes,” he breezed, falling back and laying his head on my lap. “You see, the one I’m offering you comes with a guarantee. Whatever your orgasm tally is, I’ll be a good little husband for that number of days no matter what you do or don’t do.”
I nodded slow. “And if I break the truce without taking you up on your offer?”
Dark, piercing eyes stuck me through. “Then it’s war. Bloody, brutal war with casualties on all sides.”
Setting down the water bottle, I picked up the medicine, measured it out, and downed the lot. Only when I recapped and put it back, did I say, “Well, that’s something to think about.”
I poked his chest. “I should get back to my room.”
